Protagonist and Antagonist

A tale may be dissected into its constituent parts, beginning with

the characters. Any tale has protagonists and villains who help to
shape the plot.
• A protagonist is a character who, regardless of their function, plays
a prominent role in the plot; nonetheless, many people associate
protagonists with the "good guys." There are several characters in
Noli Me Tangere, but the story centres around Crisostomo Ibarra.
Crisostomo Ibarra is the character who is at the center of the story.
The external conflicts are simple to identify:
Consider the following scenario:

• Ibarra vs the ideals and prejudices of his era's culture;

• Ibarra vs. Father Damaso, as well as the other friars indirectly;
• Ibarra vs. Kapitan Tiago, whose strong sense of self-preservation puts
him in direct opposition to Maria Clara's affection for Ibarra.

• An antagonist is a character in a story who generates conflict, and is

typically associated with the plot's villains. In Noli Me Tangere, there are a
number of foes, each with varying degrees of villainy. The Dominicans and
Franciscans, in particular, are the most corrupt of the friars. and the
blancos, who make up the Spanish casta system's top three (3) members.

Rizal says in the dedication of the work that there was once a sort of
cancer so horrible that the victim could not stand to be touched, and the
sickness was dubbed noli me tangere (Latin: "do not touch me"). His
nation, he imagined, was also stricken. The novel provides a broad
glimpse of life in the Philippines at the time, as well as witty satire. Its
account of Spanish rule's harshness served as a fuel for the country's
independence struggle. It is now considered a masterpiece of Philippine
literature, despite the fact that it is more commonly read in English or
Tagalog translation than in its original Spanish.